January 27, 2026

The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has many wonderful things in their collection and I can't wait to visit their new Parramatta gallery whenever it opens in late 2026/early 2027. Whenever I'm bored I like browsing their website for images of what they've got stashed away. One of my favourite collections is of dance/rave party flyers from the 90s, donated by a guy who liked collecting them.

During the 1990s David Travis collected the flyers from record stores in Sydney, particularly Central Station Records, where promoters of dance parties had placed them for customers to take for free. In his own words, 'I used to frequent record stores during this period and pick up the flyers for upcoming parties.'.

I'm not a huge dance music fan and it's not like I'm nostalgic for these raves as I was a child when they were happening, but I love the designs. The people that made them got free reign to do what they liked and they're incredibly creative. It's also a time when desktop publishing was new and the designers of the flyers were able to experiment with what the technology could do. My personal favourites are the clever parodies of Australian brands. There's also a large crossover between cyberpunk/internet culture and the designs too. I assume because lots of people into raves were also into the internet?

Thank you David for hoarding this stuff, then giving it to the Powerhouse so I can enjoy them. Please enjoy this selection of images that caught my eye. The full collection can be viewed on the Powerhouse website.